


The Eternal Apprentice

by Jen425



Series: Through Golden Eyes [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Introspection, POV Sith, Past Mind Control, Sith Code
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-08 14:46:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14107662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jen425/pseuds/Jen425
Summary: Maul sighs, watching his recently discovered brother pace back and forth in the cell that Kenobi and his little apprentice had locked them in. Blast it! He’d not realized just how deep his Master’s web had run.





	The Eternal Apprentice

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!

Maul sighs, watching his recently discovered brother pace back and forth in the cell that  _ Kenobi  _ and his little  _ apprentice  _ had locked them in. Blast it! He’d not realized just how deep his Master’s web had run. If he had known, he would have waited until he had formed the proper mental scarring from a broken bond, the proper scarring to create the insane genius of a true Master.

 

As it was, he had not realized, and Mother Talzin had not known of the highly secretive Sith technique, and, therefore, had not known to undo it, or even manipulate it.

 

The joys of Jedi prison and their stupid Light Side crystal blaster things (he’d been a weapon, okay? He hadn’t paid enough attention to this particular threat), they definitely gave perspective, if nothing else.

 

“You are not helping,” he growls at his brother. They’d been there for almost a week, but he’s still getting nowhere.

 

Not surprising, though, the Jedi Temple is a terrible place to properly use Sith meditation techniques, and Maul knows his place…

 

He’d been terrible at meditation, but he was a wonderful weapon, a wonderful  _ distraction _ .

 

Savage growls.

 

“I know that!” he says, “But what else would you have me  _ do _ ?”

 

Maul sighs.

 

“Be still so that I can concentrate,” he says, “As I’ve told you  _ before _ .”

 

Savage growls again, but ceases his pacing. Maul returns to his meditation, using his brother’s frustration as fuel.

 

It’s around there that he finally makes some headway.

  
  
  


“We had another brother,” Savage tells him, at one point, “His name was Feral. Feral Oppress.  _ Ventress _ … I sold myself to that witch in exchange for his life to be spared, and she made me  _ kill _ him.”

 

Hmm… Maul wonders…

 

“Then why do you trust Talzin?” he asks, “After all, Asajj Ventress wouldn’t know such techniques. The Sith do not control others in such obvious, simplistic ways.”

 

Savage shrugs.

 

“I don’t know,” he says, and it gets Maul thinking…

 

“Perhaps the  _ witch _ _ es _ are still holding power over you,” he say, “Perhaps it will take more work to help you, my brother. The end goal of the Sith, you see, is break our chains… when I am whole, so shall you be soon after.”

 

“Great,” says Savage, “That… perhaps it will be better.”

 

Maul finds himself smiling for the first time since… huh, he doesn’t ever really remember smiling before.

 

“We will continue without their intentions for us,” he says.

 

“It will be a new age.”

  
  
  


Kenobi had visited at one point, not even a full day in, he thinks. Savage had tried to get up and attack Kenobi for all that he’d done, but, for some reason, Maul stopped him. None had said a word, but Maul had known Kenobi’s question…

 

He hadn’t had an answer.

 

Kenobi never returns.

  
  
  


Skywalker visits, too, his visit coming when Savage is asleep (the Jedi are dangerous, and they’d decided to sleep in shifts). He’s much more talkative than Kenobi.

 

“The Jedi, in their hypocrisy, likely would…  _ dislike _ that I understand you,” he says, and Maul can see the obvious heretical nature of this particular Jedi, “But I do, in a small way. I won’t demean you with pity, but I’ve seen a future in almost your place.”

 

Maul finds himself growling.

 

“You know  _ nothing _ of my life,  _ Jedi _ ,” he snarls, and Skywalker laughs a humorless laugh.

 

“No,” he says, “I suppose not… but I’ve been to your village… you didn’t ever get the chance to choose a side, taken so young. That, at the very least, is something the Sith typically do right… of course, I’m just an outsider, looking in with nothing but the guidance of your less-subtle-than-he-thought former Master.”

 

Huh… Skywalker  _ was _ , supposedly, the Chosen One. He supposes that this Jedi-trained boy not indoctrinated since birth would have seemed an excellent target for his Master’s manipulations. Still, Skywalker annoyed him.

 

“I do not wish to discuss philosophy with you,” he says, and Skywalker shrugs, looking sad.

 

“Very well,” Skywalker says, “Goodbye, Lord Maul.”

 

He wonders why such a simple thing as a title brings him such satisfaction.

 

After all, he had earned it.

  
  
  


Somehow, Maul has managed to wade through and fix two minds in less than two weeks because, on the seventh day by his count, Skywalker enters, with an astromech that he will grow to hate at his side.

 

“Hello,” Skywalker says, “I’ve got a deal that you probably don’t want to refuse.”

 

“And what’s that,” Maul hears Savage growl.

 

Skywalker smiles.

 

“A way out, a revenge, and maybe even a chance,” he says, and, well…

 

What do they have to lose?

**Author's Note:**

> Anakin maybe actually put that research to use. Also, I've never understood why Savage trusted Talzin.
> 
> And, honestly, Maul really isn't dumb enough not to know his "place"... he just expected he'd be worth more than just a single use.
> 
> find me on tumblr [@flaim-ita](https://flaim-ita.tumblr.com/)


End file.
